The Santa Ana City Council has once again, with terribly short notice, scheduled a “Special Meeting” set for tonight, January 29, at 5 pm, at Council Chambers. This is another secret meeting as the Council will be deliberating the fate of our City Manager, Paul Walters.
The timing is odd as the Council’s Public Safety Committee was supposed to meet tonight as well, at 5:30 pm, at the police station community room. How are they going to run two meetings at once? Very odd.
Here is the agenda for tonight’s Council meeting:
CALL TO ORDER
CITY OF SANTA ANA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA
JANUARY 29, 2013 5:00 P.M.
Council Chamber
22 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, California 92702
Mayor PULIDO
Councilmembers AMEZCUA, BENAVIDES, MARTINEZ, REYNA, SARMIENTO, TINAJERO
City Manager, City Attorney, Clerk of the Council
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Members of the public may address the City Council on items on the Special Meeting Agenda.
CLOSED SESSION ITEM
The Brown Act permits legislative bodies to discuss certain matters without members of the public present. The City Council finds, based on advice from the City Attorney, that discussion in open session of the following matters will prejudice the position of the City in existing and anticipated litigation:
1 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISMISSAL/RELEASE AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1)
Title: City Manager
CLOSED SESSION REPORT – The City Attorney will report on any action(s) taken following the Closed Session Meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Hi Art, So are we supposed to come down to speak for Paul again?
Wouldn’t hurt but this looks like a done deal.
It will be interesting who the council members choose as interm manager. Especially with the deliberate and calculated coldness in which they fired Walters.
If it is someonne ill qualified it could spell trouble for the “spingsters”.
Here is what I see. Santa Ana is becoming East LA in OC. Just like South Gate, Maywood, Bell, Huntington Park. A corrupt Council will only appoint those who are equally corruptable. You can bet that any changes to city leadership positions will be given to their cronies and certainly not the most qualified. Why isn’t the City doing a national search for a new City Manager? And if they fire the Chief of Police, will there be a national search for a new Chief? Or, is there already an illegitimate agenda and those positions have been promised in a back room deal?
This stinks of dirty politics. Santa Ana – OC’s blight.
“And if they fire the Chief of Police, will there be a national search for a new Chief?”
Fat chance. The Police Union has the current Gang of 6 by the short hairs and they will make sure the new Chief comes from within their ranks.
Cha Ching!
Paul Walters has been a great Chief of Police AND a great City Manager. He will be difficult to replace but if, and there is, a well qualified individual within our ranks to take on the position, why do we need to waste more money conducting a nation wide search?
The council already has their choice for City Manager and I believe he is less qualified than Walters but Im sure the council will put him into power anyways. But to now go after Walters for all of his efforts and success as one of the best Chiefs ever, they clearly want to create a hostile environment within the Police Department for reasons I don’t comprehend other than to have someone they feel they can control. Seems to me like they just want to control everyone and everything for their own self interests without taking a real look at what is best for the city and it’s public safety.
The VOC article today suggests that there is a complete lack of understanding among council members of the process and that perhaps they have opened themselves up to legal issues.
Further, it is equally apparent that this was a “Fire your tounge, before loading your brain” move on Benavide’s part. I think that the adult members of the majority (Tinajero and Sarimento) are trying to slow things down so it doesn’t become a HUGE embarassment.
The usually predictable VOC is even shading things as “amatuerish” quoting Benavide’s as saying there was “confusion” on the part of the council majority about what to do next.
Hopefully they allow cell phones in the closed session, that way Angie can call her husband to ask for instructions on what to do and how to vote.
It was reported that Michele Martinez was absent from the closed session.
This appears to be incorrect, Pizza hut just showed up with three large Meat Lovers pizzas delivered to: Councilwoman Michele Martinez.
So clearly she is putting those unemployment checks to use.
I agree Jeff. Paul Walters has been a great Chief and City Manager. So exactly how is it that they can push a man that has given so much, for so long, out the door? Chief Walters stood for fairness and could not be bought off by the corrupt politicians of SA. So now, they need a Chief of Police and City manager in office who will compromise their ethics and integrity simply to keep their jobs. Watch out – this is a slippery slope from here. Santa Ana 1970’s again, wrought with corruption. Maybe they should have contracted with the Sheriff’s like they did with the fire department and the corrupt council wouldn’t be able to control the cops. Now, the cops can sweep all of the mis-deeds of the council and their families and friends under the carpet. Keep the number to the local FBI office close.